The Sun. — London, England, 1864-10-10 00:00:00

.Prince and Princess of Wales in Sweden. (From tile Vines' SJecial Corr•e.spondent) STOCKHOLM, Oct. 3. Yesterday the Prince and Princess of Wales, with the principal members of their suite, attended Di vine eervi:e in the English chapel, a building of very unprepossessing exterior, but within furnished in all respects suitably. The congregation, for a foreign city, was considerable, and the great majo lay of those present appeared to be regular church loers. Hundreds of spectators, however, waiting to see their Royal Highnesses as they came and went, stood in the avenue which leads from the Place of Charles XIII , the principal boulevard in Stock. holm, to the gardens in front of the two plain houses that have been adapted internally to the purposes of a religious edifice. For the practice, no doubt, due canonical and political authority can be pleaded, but to the ear of an English layman there always seems to be an omission—a friend's name wanting, as it were—when upon the Continent, in a Church of England assembly, the prayer for the Queen of England and her family is not offered up. Nothing can be more proper than to show respect for local authority—but in desiring and in acknow ledging good government abroad there is no impro priety, to say the least, in desiring and acknow. ledging good government at home. In many fo reign countries the right of assembling for public worship is, or has been in times past, only extended to Englishmen because they are jEnglishmen, and the omission in every such case of the prayer in question is the more marked because Divine ser vice is usually held in the house of the British am bassador, and therefore of the English Sovereign for the time being. In these days of synodical judgments and attempted revival of Church disci pline the point is one which the episcopal bench might very fairly consider. In Stockholm a new English church is on the point of being erected, which will not merely be more commodious internally, but will possess some claims to architectural beauty. Having accomplished—what is necessarily a work of much difficulty abroad— the procuring of funds for such an undertaking, it is to be hoped that the chaplain will not relay his admirable efforts, but will remember that in the pre sent day good church music is becoming as essential a feature of the English service as worthy shrines at which to assemble. In the course of the afternoon their Royal High. nesses paid a visit to the Freemason Orphan Asylum, in which Prince Oscar,who is at the head, not merely of charitable effort, but of progress of every kind in Sweden, takes the deepest interest. Attended by the members of their suite they afterwards drove in open carriages for some time in the vicinity of Stockholm, dining in the evening with the Royal family at the palace. To-day was devoted altogether to the second elk shooting expedition, which, just as light was failing and expectations were dying away, was crowned with success. The hunting party did not get back to town till late, when the prince pro. ceeded at once to liiriksdal. To.morrow morning, at 10 o'clock, the special train which is to convey their Royal Highnesses with the members of their suite to Gottenburg, en route for Copenhagen, will start from the terminus here. The distance, up wards of 200 miles, is ordinarily accomplished in something under 112 hours, being an increase in expedition of 21 hours from the time when the line was opened a couple of years ago. In the case of this special train it is expected that an additional 31 hours will be saved, thus accomplishing the land portion of the journey in eight hours. Two remark able features of the Swedish lines, which are under Government control, is that they keep time at the different stations to half a minute or so, and that a list of all the places at which the train is appointed to stop, with a reliable table of the amount of delay in each case, is legibly printed and hung up in all the compartments of the carriages composing the train. Passengers and guards are thereby saved the fuss and worry of questions at every station; and persons given to the enjoyment of the good things of this life can settle beforehand in their own minds at which buffet they will leisurely descend, what refreshments it will be possible to obtain within the given interval, and may avoid that distressing spectacle so often witnessed at English railway re freshment rooms, where the good man, struggling with a bowl of scalding soup or coffee, is divided between the wish to pay his money and get value for it, and the necessity of complying with the urgent summons of the bell. The Royal yacht and the miniature squadron by which she is accompanied are already lying at Got tenburg, so that the Prince will embark at once upon his arrival there. Prince Oscar will accom- pony their Royal Highnesses in the special train, as will also Mr Hamilton and Mr Heneage of the British Legation. After the embarkation,there will probably be a delay of a couple of hours for dinner, bat it is expected that, except in the case of very bad weather, the yacht will put to sea the same night. And now that the Royal visit is on the eve of ending, a simple act of justice must be performed towards the Swedish Court and the Swedish nation. This is to express, as far as it can be done in words, the gratitude, amounting to enthusiasm, which the members of the Royal party one and all feel at the reception they have experienced in this country. The visit was not one prearranged long beforehand, cr in which even an immediate acceptance of the invitation caTa!d be returned. The strictly private nature of the stay in Denmark of their Royal High nesses at first induced a doubt whether in extend ing their journey as far as Sweden there might not be something out of character with the family ex cursion originally planned. And after it had been decided to proceed to Stockholm, there still re mained a qtzestion whether at so advanced a season of the year it would be judicious for her Royal Highness to undertake the voyage. Under all these .circumstances of hesitation and delicacy, the King proved the kindest and most considerate of hosts. He left it to the Prince and Princess to name the time most convenient to themselves, as well as to fix the duration of their stay, and prac tically business of every kind has been relinquished by his Majesty in favour of the single object of contributing to the gratification of his guests, and making their time pass as enjoyably as possible. It has been the fashion to speak of the Court of Sweden as a French Court, and naturally many of the ideas and associations brought by Bernadotte to the north of Europe have survived him. " A fter the French," says the proverb, " the Swedes are the most charming people in Europe." But to the French grace of manner they have added the northern sin. cerity, and whatever may have been the case in bygone generations there can be no doubt that in the present day it is the aim of the Swedish policy to lay the foundation of a sere an d cor di a l alliance with England. With this object in view every possible opportunity is taken of paying court to Englishmen. The desire may be traced in a thou- sand ways—rot merely in the welcome and often. tions lavished upon the Prince and Princess of ___ Wales, gratifying as these must be to the British nation, but in special acts of politeness shown to Englishmen and particularly to members of the British Legation; especially also in the anxiety manifested that exact accounts of everything con nected with the royal visit should be forwarded to England. The mercantile world may say, that after all these are empty compliments, and that they would prefer solid commercial advantages. The Swedish Curt, to the f u ll ex t en t o f it s p owe r, has shown itself anxious to meet their views also. Against the opposition of a strong Protectionist PariY, and notwithstanding the fact that in a country i of li m i ted population and wealth, a com b s orate qui c k ening of consumption can hardly e expected from diminished rates of duty, liberal revisions and reduction of the tariffs have been made, and unless the Board of Trade, as at present constituted, should prove too strong for the rest of the Ministry, further advances in the same direction may be looked for. Within the last couple of months even, a new law, conceived in a very liberal spirit towards foreigners, received the sanction of the King, and has been promulgated with reference to the trade and in dustry of the kingdom. The rail ways will naturally prove most efficient instruments in mak- ing the oiuc,tries known to each other and establish. ing a community of interest 3. FJr years past S weden has possessed a very efficient system of in , tercal water com nunication, some of ' e line of steamers yielding as high a dividend as 20 per cent. and the majority producing a clear 10 per cent. to the proprietors. But of course when steamers could not run, the system of posting on defective roads operated as a practical barrier against travelling, and even the usually unimpeachable Murray is astray as to so many facts in his last edition that the country hitherto has been to all intents and purposes unknown. Two months hence, when the railway is completed from Malmoe to Stockholm, the case will be very different. There will be no naore difficulty then in crossing over Sweden than there is at pre sent in getting through Denmark, while a sea voyage from Lubeck to Malmoe will occupy pre!' cisely the same time as to Copenhagen. This will be a very important consideration where English capital is flowing largely in the channel that it has begun to form for itself in developing the dormant mineral wealth of Sweden. Quite recently an English company has entered upon a survey of the Swedish mines, with the object of commencing ope• rations extensively, and an English bank has bean established in Sweden. These are indications that when the circumstances became known persons will not be wanting to take advantage of the present state of feeling in Sweden, which, politically and socially, is one of the great facts of the day. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, VICTORIAN. It appears from the report of the railway departs ment of the Board of Land and Works in Victoria that on Nov. 25, 1862, an accident occurred on the Melbourne and Murray River line at North Mel bourne, occasioned by the train to Sandhurst run■ ning into the train to Williamstown; several per. sons were injured, some severely, but none fatally. The claims for compensation amounted to £5,318, including the cost of legal proceedings. The expen diture on construction at the end of 1862 charged against the loan amounted to L 7,246,798, but to this was added £332,140, being expenditure on construction at that date, cut of the consolidated revenue, upon which no interest was pay. able, making the total expenditure £7,578,938. The capital then authorised to be funded for construction was £8,368,100, the annual interest upon which, when the whole of the deben tures were issued, would be £501,405. The gross revenue of 1862 was double that of 1861; the open• ing of extensions in 1862 to some extent accounted for the increase. The net revenue had increased from £59,781 in 1861 to £147,789 in 1862. The percentage of working expenses upon revenue had been reduced from 652 per cent in 1861 to 54 per cent in 1862, a result showing that the increased net income had more than kept pace with the extension of the lines. The revenue on the Victorian railways for the year 1862 amounted to £320,308, or to 10s. per train mile, and the expenditure to £172,520, or 5s 51,d per train mile, leaving a balance of £147,789. The report for the year 1863 described the diffi culties experienced in letting the contracts for the works to responsible contractors, the practice hav- ing been to let the works at the lowest tender. For the first time since those lines were opened it was shown that the revenue from goods was Equal to that for passengers. Though the train mileage of the year was more than double that of 1861, yet the accession of traffic caused by the extension of the lines had increased the revenue per train mile 25 per cent., or from Bs. 3id. in 1861 to 10s. 41d. in 1863. The cost of working expenses per train mile during those years having remained with little variation at an average of Os. 41d., the per centage of working expenses to revenue had decreased from 65! per cent. in 1861 to 501 per cent. in 1863. The passenger revenue for 1863 on each of the lines was double that of 1861, while oa the Murray and Bal- larat lines the goods revenue of 1863 was five times that of 1861. The loss upon the Williamstown traffic, which in 1861 was £7,920, was reduced in 1863 to £3lO, there having been an increase in the passenger traffic of £4,780, and n goods traffic of £2,000, and a reduction in the expenses of £B3O, making together an improve ment of £,7610. The total revenue for the year 1863 earned by 39 stations on the Government lines for traffic amounted to £463,666, of which £182,235 was earned at the Melbeurne station, £223,868 at eight other terminal stations, and £57,563 at 30 intermediate stations. The expenses at those sta tions were £26,065, £30,701, and £17,695 respec tively. Thus the whole earnings of 30 intermediate stations were little more than one-tenth of the whole revenue, while they absorbed nearly one•fourth of the station expenses. The construction expenditure out of the loan to the 31st of December, 1863, amounted to £7,964,000, and of this £230,000 was estimated by the engineer in chief as expended on plant and works of the Echuca line. The national debt therefore on lines open i❑ 1863 was £7,734,000, and the net revenue shown for that year was £229,400, or 8 per cent. on the amount expended on construe• tion. The Hon. J. M. Grant, commissioner of rail ways,observes that the expenditure on construction out of the consolidated revenue, amounting to £341,800, though not bearing interest, was yet a portion of the capital cost of construction, and the net revenue of £229,400, if taken upon a capital of £8,075,800, would show a reduced rate of 2.24 per cent., instead of the 3 per cent. The statement of the cost of construction of the Victorian railways including interest to the end of 1863, showed a total of .0,708,122—the amount of interest being £1,402,140. The total receipts on revenue account for the year 1863 were £464,694, or 10s. 4-67 d. per train mile, and the expenditure £235,292, or Ss. 31,01., leaving a balance of £229,402. GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA. The half-year's interest on the equipment mortgage bonds of this company is to be paid on and after the 15th instant, and the half-year's interest on the Ist and 2d preference bonds on and after the 17th. The coupons in each case must be left at the company's office for three clear days. The warrants for the payment of the half-year's interest on the 3d preference stock are to be issued on the 17th inst. SAMBRE AND MEUSE. The report of the directors states that the number of,miles run by the trains during the last half year had been increased as compared with the corre sponding half of 1863, there was a diminution in the number of passengers, and a slight increase in the weight of the goods carried, though the amount received had not been so great, for the low rates told heavily on this kind of traffic, Notwithstand ing those drawbacks a considerable saving had been effected in th e wor ki ng expenses, and the excess of revenue would allow of the payment of 4s. per share. Since the last meeting the agreement for the amalgamation of the undertaking with the Est-Belge and other companies had received the Royal assent, and the line was handed over to them on the lst of July as agreed. Great progress had been made in the winding-up of the accounts. The definitive plans required by the Government to be sent in were nearly all ready ; and with the exception of the outlay mentioned in the agreement for the ern ' tion of permanent buildings in certain stations where temporary ones only existed, no further ex• penditure on capital account would have to be in. curred. The directors congratulated the proprietors on a state of affairs whien freed them frow any further difficulty on money matters; and, while it could never by any possibility become worse, must gradually improve as the lines which had been lately opened and those now in course of construction at. tined full development. The revenue account showed that £36,130 had been received for the half year ending the 30th of June last, and £17,382 ex pended, leaving a balance on the working of £18,748. The expenditure on capital acount amounted to 11,119,576. NORTHERN OF FRANCES The traffic receipts on this company's line for the week ending the 29th Sept. amounted to £63.184", and for the corresponding week of last year to £60,617, showing an increase of £3,198. The toted receipts from the let January last to the above date amounted to L 2.146,345, klgginst £2,031,751 for the sqme period of 1863, showing an increase of £114,549. WEST NORFOLK JUNCTION. The works of this line are about to be commenced, arrangements having been made for turning the first sod near the Heacham station, on the Lynn and Hunstanton line. The contractor is Mr W. S. Simplon, and as the works are to be carried on with energy it is probable that the line might be ready fur traffic before the close of 1865. The Great Eastern has taken a large interest in the line, which will bring into connection with its system a part of Norfolk hitherto unprovided with railway communication. TIM SUI, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 10, 1864. COCKERMOUTII KESWICK, AND PENRITII This new railway is now rapidly approaching completion, some alterations required by the Go vernment inspector having delayed for some weeks the public opening of the line for traffic. The line commences at Penrith, about 18 miles south of Car• lisle, by a junction with the Lancaster and Carlisle section of the London and North Western Railway, passes near the picturesque grounds of Greystoke Castle, and round part of the base of the mighty Saddleback. Crossing the vale of St. John's, and passing over about half a dozen bridges, the line enters Keswick, where a large hotel is being built by the railway company. The run from Penrith to Keswick will occupy about three quarters of an hour. From Keswick the line passes through Crosthwaite, close by the margin of Bassenthwaite Lake, to Peel Wyke, and thence through the Vale of Embleton to Cockermouth, and is there connected by the short Cookermouth and Workington Rail way with the Irish Sea. In addition to a large tourist traffic, however, the company expect a large traffic in iron ore, the new line shortening the route very considerably between the hematite ironworks in the west of Cumberland and the furnances on the east coast of England, the line being in close con nection with the Eden Valley Railway. Theatricals in France. GRAND OPERA.—M. Mermet's long-announced "Roland ) a Roncevaux," brought out here on Monday evening, may be considered the musical event of the day. We may premise that the subject is taken from the famous mediaeval " Chanson de Roland," composed about the 10th century by a minstrel named Theroulde. This poem is one of the most remarkable monuments of early European literature, and, like the noble lay of the Cid, and our own poetical romances celebrating the exploits of King Alfred and his knights, had a large share in forming and inspiring the heroic poetry and the chivalrous spirit of subsequent ages, M. Mermet, whose first production was the opera of " King David," which came out with indifferent success about the year 1846, has been engaged for the last 18 years upon this theme of Roland, and has at last, after many disappointments, succeeded in producing a work which, to say the least, places him in a high rank among French composers. The opera has this unique distinction, that the poem and the music are both the work of the same author. Roland the Brave is the nephew of Charlemagne, and the spot less Bayard of that heroic age. Charlemagne is returning with his army after the conquest of Spain ; and Roland, left in command of the rear-guard, is set upon by the Saracens and slain, with the flower of the Frank chivalry, in the valley of Roncevaux; these are the simple facts, but M. Mermet has interwoven a love story, by way of plot, Among the twelve paladins of Charlemagne there is a traitor—Ganelon—who is about to force a gentle lady —Alde—to marry him, but she loves Roland, and escapes; the felon knight, bent on revenge, conducts the Saracen forces to the fatal valley; Roland is urged by the warlike bishop, Turpin, to blow a certain ivory horn, which would be heard by Charlemagne, and bring him to the rescue, but he and his knight choose to die rather than ask such aid ; the horn is not sounded till too late, and his lady love discovers him among the dead only in time to receive his dying breath. Of the overture to this opera little need be said ; it is a sort of prelude, composed of the leading melt)• dies of the work itself, and, with the final march, is not striking as a piem of instrumental music. The first and second acts form a prologue—somewhat too long—to the third, which is the grand culminating effort of the composer —the fourth act being little more than a finale. The first act is relieved from its too monotonous character by the " war song of Roland," very well given by Warot, and finely responded to by the chorus ; by a touching melody, "Le soir, pensive aux pieds des Pyre nees," by Mme. Gueymard , as Aide ; and by Roland's song with the chorus " Superbes Pyrenees." The second act is unreasonably long, but is distinguished by several fine melodies and choral passages, a duo between Roland and Aide, "0 dame de beaute," and a remarkably quaint and touching chorus, " 0 Roncevaux, vallon sombre. The third act, as already observed, is the gem of the opera ; I. Mermet seems to have concentrated his powers on this portion of the work and it is full of telling dramatic as well as musical effects from beginning to end. The closing finale of the opera takes up the same theme, and the curtain descends amid universal plaudits. THEATRE ITALIEN.—The " Sonnambula" was the opera selected fur the commencement of the season on Saturday, but, in consequence of a slight indisposition of Mile. Patti, we had " lligoletto," with a new tenor, Signor Sarti. After Mario, whose impersonation of the Duke was one of his finest efforts,the task of any other " Duke" has become diffi cult, and the shortcomings of the new substitute are perhaps all the more apparent. The difference in the present case is truly too great. M. Sarti's voice is not wanting in sweet ness, and in certain passages there is considerable power; but the upper notes are vague and uncertain. Perhaps in other and less ambitious roles M. Sarti may be useful, but in such as this--never. Mme. Lagrange was rather cold in the two first acts, but warmed up later, and in the well known quartette sang well. Delle-Sedie was in ex cellent voice, and showed himself, as he always does, an accomplished artiste. On Sunday evening " Lucrezia Borgia" was performed, Mme, Lagrange filling the part of Luorezia, and Meric Lablache that of Orsini; and on Tues day "Lucia de Lammermoor," with Mmo. Lagrange, Franschini, and Naudin. Wednesday may however be said to have been the real " opening night," as Mlle. Patti made her first appearance for the season in the " Sonnambula," and was in splendid voice, and welcomed with fervid enthu siasm by a crowded house. It is understood that Mario will appear during the winter, and cn revanche M. Naudin is definitively engaged for the Grand Opera, to which he will transfer his services after performing 15 nights at the Italiens. Brignoli, the much vaunted tenor from America, is to make his appearance first at Madrid ; this artist is not unknown in Paris, having made his debut here some 10 or 12 years ago will but indifferent success. ODEON.—A clever little comedy in one act was brought out in this theatre on Saturday called " Les Meres Terri hies," in which two match-making ladies do their utmost to get a husband for their daughters in the person of a young gentleman who is unfortunately already married. The two "terrible mothers" (Mmes. Bergeret and Ducoudray), rival vixens, each bent upon the discomfiture of the other, are capitally rendered, and the piece goes off with great eclat. Messrs Chivot and Duru were named as the authors. VAUDEVILLE,—Much public curiosity was excited by the announcement of a play at this theatre called "Le Drac," written by Mme. Georges Sand, and adapted for the stage by M. Paul Meurice, but we fear that, though preceded by a great flourish of trumpets, this new piece will add no leaf to the laurels of its illustrious author. The Drac of Provence is the familiar elf, by turas benevolent or malicious, common to the traditions and legends of all nations—the Scandinavian " kobold" or " troll," the German " nix" or " berginamachen" (hero of so many of Grimm's admirable stories), the "brownie" of Scotth-la rustic belief. The " drat" of Languedoc is the marine type of the spirit, and is supposed to interest him self specially in the domestic affairs of the fishermen. The drama was originally written for the little domestic theatre of Mme. Sand at Nohant, and was published some three years ago in the Revue des _Deux ~Ifondes. In its primary form it is very pretty and poetic; perhaps it would have been better to have left the l iece untouched, or better still to have restricted it to its original destination. In its new and by no means improved form it is too fantastic, or else not fantastic enough ; the real and the supernatural aro not sufficiently separated, and the ethereal element and the earthly aro so mixed up that the illusion so necessary to dramatic enjoyment becomes impossible. In the prologue, which is in verse, the Elf of the Sea, who has become enamoured of Francine, a fisherman's daughter, asks per mission of Cyanee, Queen of the Water, to assume mortal form ; he accordingly enters into the resuscitated shape of Fleur de Mer, a young sailor who has been drowned, and proceeds to pay gentle court to the young girl; but she being attached to a certa!ia scapegrace Bernard, who is at sea, looks down upon the poor boy, whose too poetic adora tion she does not appreciate ; whereupon the elf, inspired by jealousy, plays such fantastic tricks as becomes his capri cious nature, inciting mischief and quarrels among lovers and friends ; but finding that the constancy of Francine is proof against all trials, he gives up his evil doings, and makes all parties happy—throwing off at last his " mortal coil," resuming his ethereal existence, and floating away to his native region with a song of joy, which is the finest part of the piece. Whatever be the intrinsic defects of the drama itself the name of the author will probably insure it a (brief existence. Mlle. Jane Essler, as the " Drac," proves herself an artist of the first order, and probably never appeared to greater advantage ; the In übordivate parts w ,?re well sustained, and the scenic effects exceedingly good. Tim 130171TES-P4RISIENS,—This popular little theatre reopened for the season last Friday, notwithstanding the embarrassing position in which it is at present placed by managerial and other disputes and difficulties. Bes!des " M'sieu Landry" and "Mesdames do la llalle,' , we had a new opera-bouffe, by M. Jonas, "Le Manoir do la itonarcli4e," in which a family of retired tailors ambitious of aristocratic distinc tion purchase an ancient mansion, intending to live en grand seigneur; but the " vassals" who have found them out, play off all sorts of tricks to get the parvenus ousted. It is a laughable little operetta, and is chiefly remarkable for the appearance of Mllo. C. 1 1 1ilroy, once one of the queens of the melodrama. By the way, we see that " Les Deux Aveugles, which had so great a run at this theatre, has come out at Saigon in Cochin China. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. THE " SATURDAY RETIEW" ON OUR NEW FOREIGN POLICY,—Mr. Cowper not only enjoys peculiar opportunities of knowing the o pinions of the chief to whom hg is so nearly related, but has also been endowed by nature with an ingenuous mind which is incapable of a niggardly secresy. Accordingly, as might have been expected,from one in his position, he has taken the first opportunity of explaining to the world his stepfather's foreign policy. No one can say that the moment is inop portune. Lord Clarendon just now is trying to influence the policy of Austria by threats of deser tion in one contingency, and promises of assistance in the other. The phrases are vague enough, but there is a possibility that Austria may construe them according to the rules of language tradi tionally current among diplomatists. It was highly necessary that Mr. Cowper should step in to set her right, and to explain to her, in his own lucid and forcible style, the exact practical meaning of Lord Russell's sec et cassarit lecture writing and Lord Clarendon's mysterious hints. The principle was expressed with great clearness. A previous speaker had been hoping that the opinion of the country had been sufficiently declared in fa vour of allowing other people to look after their own affairs. This aspiration did not suit Mr Cowper. He denounced it as selfishness and isolation. "The right principle," he said, " to be adopted in foreign affairs is this—we are bound to do what we can, to use what strength and influence we have, to support right against wrong, to support the oppressed against those who tyrannise over them." At first sight this seems as belligerent language as that to which we have been recently accustomed in Foreign. Office despatches. But, like its prototype, it is capable of explanation. Mr Cowper goes on to intimate that the Crimean war was a great waste of money and blood, and that " this nation did not attempt to assist the Danes by force of arms for this reason—that the whole armies of Germany were pouring their mighty strength upon the little State of Denmark." That is something like an heroic sentiment. Perhaps it might have been more seemly and judicious, even if Mr Cowper is himself Danish in feeling, still to use German topics and arguments as the policy of his Govern. went became eventually favourable to tha Germans. But nothing can restrain his candour in dissecting the motives of his distinguished relative. Nature has kindly put a difference between dogs and men in respect to the expression of fear, and by cutting off the tail from the human species, has enabled them, when they experienced that depressing emo tion, to conceal it from the eyes of their fellow. creatures. But Mr Cowper disregards the bene. ficent provision of nature, and will put his tail be tween his legs in public. That there may be no mistake about it, he goes on, with the magic con ciseness of genius, to embody in a single sentence the whole foreign policy of our i Government : " Our business in foreign affairs s to express our sympathy, and use that freedom of speech which is the great privilege of Englishmen." This is the interpretation clause by which we may construe the former too bellicose declaration about using our strength and influence to support right against wrong. It is obvious that no accusation of undue pugnacity can be made against this principle, a n d the most advanced political economist can find no fault with it. It is buying the gratification of our sympathies in the cheapest possible market. It is supporting right against wrong in the, most inex. pensive manner in which that holy task was ever performed. In one sense it may be regarded as an actually profitable operation. The lack of matter is a serious drawback to the enjoyment of orators at those bucolic festivities at one of which this remarkable manifesto was uttered; but a great load will be take❑ off their minds if it is to be under stood that they may enlarge without limit in their expressions of sympathy upon all possible foreign affairs. This doctrine will have a tendency also to ennoble after-dinner speechification. It has hitherto been thought meanly of as a clumsy instrument for trotting out notabilities, and enabling lion , hunters to gratify their curiosity and digest their dinners at the same time, But now it will take rank as the solemn performance of " our business in foreign affairs." Every post-prandial orator is now in the nature of a Foreig❑ Secretary. He is transacting in a free and easy way the business which the Fo reign Office exists to transact in a more formal way. He is wielding England's chosen weapons against tyranny and wrong, If we are to vindicate that righteous cause by the employment of freedom of speech, it is pleasing to reflect how full en arsenal of that safe and comfortable weapon we have at our command, and how many active champions we may always count upon. What the effect of this new system will probably be is an interesting subject of inquiry. It opens a wholly novel and antrodden path. The plan of resisting wrong and tyranny by freedom of speech alone has never been tried on a large scale anywh ere except at Billingsgate; and it is impossible, with out further investigation, to ascertain the exact amount of influence that has been acquired thereby by the fishwives of that locality. It is not easy to judge of its probable results by analogy, because the polity of Europe is almost without a parallel. It is the rudest and most inartifical system that was ever applied to the maintenance of what is called law. There is no tribunal to judge, no executive to punish, no definite code of law to enforce, no repre sentative body to legislate. The nearest resem blance that can be found for it is the internal self government of a public school, where the shifting public opinion of the boys furnishes the code of law, and where any boy who chooses to under take the office is combined judge and executioner. We have to suppose that one of the biggest boys suddenly announced that he had had enough of licking other big boys. The last time ho had at tempted to do it, he got so mauled that it was quite unpleasant. Besides, the boys whom he tried to lick had an awkward habit of kicking, and he did so hate to have his shins kicked. He therefore in tended for the future never to interfere with any big boy with his fists. He should continue to lick the little boy; but if a big boy did anthing wrong, or bullied a little boy, he should not touch him with his fiats ; but ho warned the big boys if they would do such things it was his full intention, as a matter of sacred duty, to swear at them to the utmost of his ability. The question is whether that boy would con tinue, on the strength of his swearing ; to occupy an iefleential position in the school, Perham, at first, the other boys might not believe him, 'and might think it was only that he was chaffing, or had got a lazy fit. But when, after a time, they had discovered that he really was in earnest, and was too much afraid of the consequences to venture on attacking any boy of his own size, the question is whether they would mind his swearing? Would they not rather think him a somewhat shabby and a very impudent fellow, for venturing to slang boys whom he dared not fight P Would not their instinctive im pulse be, when his objurgations began, to tell him, in scholastic vernacular, to " hold his jaw ' We question whether England will obtain any other answer than this to the unarmed counsels which, it appears sh e i s t o pe r p e t ua lly proffering. leere are probably no set of men in the world so perfectly impassive as the statesmen of the Continent to free. dom of speech and expression of sympathy, so long as these exhibitions are not, and cannot be suspected to be, preludes to an appeal to force. Those parts of i the freedom of sp eec h w hi c h consist n after dinner harangues they wou ld p r obably pass over with simple disregard. It is possible that they might not even hear of them. Official despatches con• ceived in the acme style of utivearlike menace and fernenine objurgation would force themselves more obtrusively into notice ; but how long it would be thought worth while at the various Chancelleries to give them even a civil reply, would depend much upon the character of the M in i s ter at each. M. von Beust would probably dismiss them at once with a contemptuous snub, while Count Rechberg might preserve his civility a little lenge!. But. t he most e of having sermons read to him o n week-days by et tired a most polite of diplomatists would g British ambassadors. Knowing that they meant nothing and could come to nothing, he would think the ceremony an intolerabl e bore, 'The en• cyclical letters of the Pope are bad enough,. but a Minister need not hear them unless he .likes : It would very coon come to be a matter of private agreement between th e Minister at each Court , and the British Ambassador that Lord Russell s horta tory despatches,like a railway report,shohld be taken as read. And then, perhaps, we might discover that it was not worth w hil e to keep a Foreign Secretary and a Foreign Office, and an expensive corps cltplo matique, for the p urpose o f writing and receiving despatches which no b o dy c ared to read. Warlike intervention is a very ser ious th . ing,and is difficult to exaggerate th e a d van t age s of avoiding it when that can be done. But the possibility of war is the only thing which gives the slightest value to Foreign Office despatche s , or saves th e m from being the most tiresome of waste paper. THE " EXAMINER" ON THE CONVEYANCE OP GUNPOWDER.—Oce point alone is clearly ascer tained as to the explosion at Belvedere, that it commenced with one o f th e barges, and, therefore, mostimportant is the inquiry into the rules re specting fire and lights in the barges, and the prac. tices of the men, whether conforming or not to their orders. Mr. Hall stated on the inquest—"No lights are allowed in the mugazino or in the barges. When barges are conveying elll:perre or bnmetone from London to cur mills at Faversham, cooking is allowed on board, when the hatches are down and two or three tarpauiings are over them ; but for the up-trip with gunpowder, their food is cooked at home before they start. They have never fires on board when near the magazine. In case of ad.. verse winds the barges are sometimes a week coming up. We do not allow smoking, in fact, at all, and I am not aware that any of our bargemen were ac customed to smoke on board a barge." Mr. Mark, the foreman of Faversham mills, was next examined, and explained—" The gunpowder is carried in the hold, and there is a fireplace in the cabin of the barge. The hold and cabin are separated by a wooden partition, the cabin side of which is lined with lead. The hold and the cabin are some dis tance apart." The Foreman—Has it been at all the practice to permit the use the use of fires and cook ing apparatus on the voyage up ? Witness replied that he could not say what the men did when they got away." This last answer sums up all to be said on the matter. But the rule respecting fire the men could hardly venture to break when be yound supervision, for the powder barges are well known on the river, and the smoke from a funnel could not escape notice, and would probably be reported to the owners. If, however, the risk were run of a fire on the passage up—the double risk of the danger and of dismissal for disobedience —it is not conceivable that it would be kept burn ing alongside the wharf, under the eyes of the store keeper. With contrary winds, when it sometimes takes, as Mr Hall states, a week to beat up to Bel vedere, the men might, indeed, possibly be tempted to make a fire to dress food ; but the extreme risk of discovery makes the imprudence highly impro bable. If, then, the explosion began from a spark in one of the barges, we suspect that a pipe was the cause of the mischief. The temptation of the pipe seems almost irresistible, and it can be indulged in with the hope of escaping discovery. Bat would men be so imprudent as to risk destruction for such a gratification ? The imprudence of men in Cdan. gerous occupation is in direct proportion to the peril. Thus seamen are notoriously the most imprudent of men, and it will be observed in all employments that neglect of precaution prevails in exact accord ance with the need of it. To render the conveyance of powder by land or water free from danger, we take to be a sheer impossibility. To diminish risk to the utmost is all that is practicable. A f ew y ears ago a powder boat belonging, if we remember rightly, to Dartford, blew up in Blackwell Reach, without any discoverable cause. Her cargo was hatched over, battened down, and tarpaulened. A barge in beating up against a foul wind, from Faver sham to Eritb, a direct distance of about 40 miles, goes over about 120 miles of river in her zig-zag course, and must be often crossing the course of steamers with sparks flying from their faucets. She must often, too, in her tacks in shore co me w ithi n reachof sparks from the land. How can these dangers be guarded against P The supposition was, that the boat blown up off Blackwell was fired by a spark from some steamer. And here we must ask why the very slowest sailing craft is employed in a bnsiness which cannot be too soon got over? Cut ters would make the passage against contrary winds in a fourth of the time, but as their stowage is not so large for their tonnage as that of barges they cost more. Should this, however, be a con sideration where safety is concerned ?—and a whole fleet of smacks would not cost so much as a single accident. The calamity at Belvedere has drawn attention to the Purfleet magazines, the explosion of which would be the destruction of half London. There is no isolation of those immense magazines. They are surrounded by a wall, that ;is all, They abut upon the village, and are far nearer than they should be to the mills and depots on the other side of the river. It was a happy circumstance that the wind blew from Purfleet when the Belvedere explo sion occurred. But it is assumed that the measures for safety are so perfect as to provide against all accidents, and so much was this presumed upon that the powder used to be proved upon the pre miles. The proof was thus double-proof of the strength of the powder, and proof of the construc tion of the magazines ; but what if there had been any defect in the latter ? We refer to the impru dent practice some thirty years ago, and know not whether it is continued now. Bat the village is not fireproof, and imagine what the peril and con sternation would be if Purfleet were in flames, with a strong easterly wind. The safest and best spot for a great powder depot on the river would be the Isle of Canvey, half down the north side of Sea Reach. The dreary place is quite clear of houses for miles, excepting the public house at Old Haven, which might, doubtlees, be purchased if the corn pletest isolation were desired. THE " SPECTATOR" ON THE PRINCE OP WALES AND THE VICEROYALTY.—Tho idea of utilising the English Princes as they rise to manhood seems to have taken a strong hold on many minds. Lord Derby avowed two or three years ago that it was one of his dreams to see them all Vic Joys, and the response from the other side of the House was far from unfavourable to his dream. " A Colonist" in a pamphlet before us argues vehemently in favour of the election or appointment of one of them to the throne of the Canadas, and changing kingship into hereditary viceroyalty, that solution of the Colonial puzzle might have its recom mendations. The main difficulty would be to induce men horn to the position of Princes Arthur and Leopold—for Prince Alfred has, as the public always forget, a Duchy of his own not yet mediatised—to accept a rank at once so doubtful, so onerous, and so distant. The most serious de mand comes, however, from Ireland. The Irish have caught at a suggestion that the Prince of Wales if resident for three months in Dublin might be either an excellent sub stitute for the Viceroy or still better Viceroy for himself, and every Irishman who makes a speech reiterates warm approval. The strong monarchical feeling of the country, which has shown itself time and again during the worst periods of Irish discontent, is fixing itself upon this pro posal, and we should not be surprised to find the odd cry of " Wales for the Irish" change into a serious popular de mand. It does not seem, if the Prince be willing, a very unwise proposition. There is no doubt, in the first place, that Ireland has some just ground of complaint in the course pursued partly from policy, partly through accident, by the reigning House. Ever since its accession it has treated the island as if it were a colony, has visited it at long intervals, has been received on every occasion with enthusiastic re spect, and has steadily avoided residing for more than a few days at a time. Till the invention of steam and rail roads there was a reason for this apparent slight ; it was inconvenient that the Sovereign should be so far absent from the centre of business, and the arrangements made while he was in Hanover would have been almost indecorous as preparations for a tour within his own dominions. The King, too, when in the islands at all lived usually in London or its neighbourhood, and the prior claim of the capital was acknowledged with out any serious heartburning. New facilities for locomo tion have, however, removed t►he physical difficulty, the Queen resides habitually in the northern or southern extre mity of Great Britain, London does without a Court with half-chagrined placidity, and Ireland asks a little sorely why it is always avoided, why the Sovereign should make a home in the Highlands and never see her third kingdom, and the Heir fix himself in an out-of-the-way corner at the eastern extremity of Great Britain. It is felt to be useless, as well as unmannerly, to importune a laly naturally at tached to a spot where the happiest hours of her life have been spent ; but the Prince, it is argued, might reasonably show towards Ireland the " countenance" which has made the Queen mistress of all Scottish hearts, and which would in Ireland re - awaken the sentiment e.f personal loyalty which her people understand so much better than loyalty to an institution. The feeling is so much the deeper be cause Irishmen are not so much annoyed at the refusal of rights of which their demagogues talk so much, as at the air with which those rights, sometimes more than those rights, are usually conceded. Ireland is the poor relation, to be helped and excused, sometimes even to be petted, but made to feel that she is the poor relation still. That is the position from which her people desire to escape, and which the residence of any part of the Royal family would do much to end. The Castle is, eve n when considered as a representative pageant, only a seeming Court, with sham dignitaries, and a tinselly ceremonial, and the Irish, who like all Celts, really appreciate splendour, would like some thing a little more real. That may be very absurd of the Irish, but as the English have for ages been occupied in at once defending their monarchy, and reducing its active 'powers, and aro now worrying the Queen to allow them a little more of the colour which the visible presence of a Court throws over aristo cratic life, the sarcasm does not lie very gracefully in their mouths. if the personal presence of the Sovereign or her son does tend to make the monarchy popular in Scotland, to add to reasonable appreciation of its benefits the warmer sentiment of personal liking, why should it be less efficacious among a race in whom sentiment is so much stronger, personal regard so much more of a motive power ? Nothing would tend to remove the barrier between Irish and Eng lish feeling so much as the Prince's residence, nothing re lieve the country so rapidly from the sense, absurd but real, of lacking its just grade in the empire, of a permanent and most humiliating want of caste. Even the material advan tages of the step are not to be despised in a country which esteems itself, through its habit of comparison with England, so annoyingly poor. The citizens of Dublin say the Castle helps to enrich them, but all they have gained by it since it was founded would be as nothing to the profit of making Ireland fashionable among Englishmen, of turn ing the stream of gold which is now manuring the High lands over a hitherto neglected country. If Ireland, with its lakes and mountains, its scenery and its sport, became a favourite summer residence for the English wealthy, the gain would be equal to that of a new commerce, and they would follow the Prince as swallows follow the summer, Above all the innovation would enable the Government to abolish either visibly or in practice the sham Viceroyalty which more than any other institution tends to reduce Ire.. land below its rank in the empire, and to make the people believe that Ctovoriirsolit is but ail iustrArsent t 9 be Aged for party purposes, and assailed cx necessitate rei by the party which happens to be out of power. Even if the Prince were appointed Viceroy, an arrangement which would have the advantage of giving him a distinct political position, and consequently remove the temptation to become King of the Opposition, he could not reside in Ireland more than three months in the year, and the work of continuous administration must be left to the Parliamentary Secretary unembarrassed by the knot of prejudiced intriguers who throng the backstairs of the Dublin establishment. The Viceroyalty would gradually be transmuted into a Court —the Viceregal residence into a " seasdn" infinitely plea santer and much more profitable to trade. During the nine months the country would be governed just as Scotland is governed, and as it ought to have been governed ever since the Union, by a Parliamentary department unimpeded by the local jobbery and petty intrigues which are fostered within the Castle. During the three it would find itself the residence of a real and wealthy Court,second only to that of the Sovereign, and subject to the influx of society, cultiva tion, and wealth, which annually turns the Highlands into a kind of colossal park created for the enjoyment of Lon don. The Viceroy who as Prince had resided in Ireland would be sure as king not to neglect it, and a new and hitherto untried bond—that of personal liking between the people and the Royal House—would be established be tween the countries. Of the two schemes suggested the easier perhaps would be the mere residence—the establish ment of the unrecognised Court which always springs up where the Prince is present, and which might reconcile the people of Dublin to a formal extinction of their viceroyalty, But either would be better than the present arrangement, and the object being to content the people, their opinion, however unwise, must be allowed its weight. It cannot be too often repeated that the hearty conciliation of Ire land, the change of its present attitude into that which Scotland maintains, wonld be a gain to the empire worth half a century of progress—would add at a stroke one third to our effective resources. The first step towards that end is to induce Englishmen to know Ireland, and the Prince would be of all mankind the most effective pioneer. THE "LONDON REVIEW" ON THE GREAT PRIZE FIGHT.—The assertors of the noble art of self-defence have this week sustained a bitter disappointment. They had assembled in Dublin, and had purchased railway tickets to Cashel for the pleasure of witnessing the fight between Mace and Coburn, which was fated not to come off, and they are now fain to return to England with the object of their journey unaccomplished. Why Ireland was chosen for the scene of the encounter one can pretty well imagine. Since the great fight bet ween Heenan and Sayers there has been a feeling on the part of the professors of the noble art that the good old times had come back, and that pugilism was desti❑ed again to show its face in open day and enjoy the patronage it once possessed, The belief and its practi cal expression have raised the indignation of the decent portion of the community, and as these luckily constitute a large majority, magistrates and police have been on the alert to put a stop to prize fights, and have done so in some instances with success. Pugilism thus beset in England looked across St. George's Channel for a clear stage. It thought, no doubt, that in Ireland a fight of any kind would be a welcome spectacle ; and so, when Mace and Coburn had resolved to try conclusions, they arranged that their meet ing should take place somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Irish capital, not nearer than 20 miles, and not farther off than 100. But it seems inherent in the Irish character to baffle expectation; and though nothing could be more logical than the reasoning which selected the sister country for the scene of the promised mill, it was fated to be re versed by the result. The Irish police were actively on the alert, and the temporal arm was aided by the spiritual in a manner which promised to be effective. Dr Cullen issued a short but vigorous pastoral, directing his clergy to warn tbeir flocks against any participation in the misdeeds, of foreign gladiators ; and it is probable that if the men had met they would, under this twofold agency, have been prevented from carrying out their ruffianly intention. It would appear, however, that the genius of the soil had more to do with the fiasco in which their wager has ended than even this well-meant obstruction. The insuperable difficulty of getting Irishmen to agree upon any given sub ject extended itself, perhaps by atmospheric influence, to the brace of pugilists. Everything was ready for the fight. A goodly company of English lords and commoners, and even clergy—if we may believe the correspondent of the Daily Telegraph—had assembled on the railway platform, en route for Tipperary, where the fight was to come off somewhere between Goold's Cross and Cashel, and of course there was the usual assemblage of gentlemen with broken noses and foreheads villanously low, who keep the ring upon these occasions. But when they arrived at Goold's Cross only one of the men faced the spot. Mace was not forthcoming. After going through the customary process of training, the affair went off upon a dispute as to who should act as referee, and the "immense multitude" which had assembled to witness the encounter had to go without its promised amusement. Thus, the only harm which has resulted from the wager is, that a considerable number of the hangers-on of the Fancy, who expected to turn it to pecuniary account, have found themselves without means to return to Eng land. Some have got over this difficulty by borrowing from benevolent supporters of the noble art ; others, we may presume, have taken a shorter cut out of their embar rassment, by levying black-mail on the inhabitants of Dub lin, for we read that "cleptomania" had been prevalent, and that much personal property had changed hands. But though the fight was defeated by a squabble between the parties themselves, there is no reason to doubt that the police themselves were active enough to have prevented it, even had the men agreed on the choice of a referee. And we feel assured that if equal vigilance were employed on this side of the Channel, the disgusting exhibitions of the Ring would not so often disgrace us. If the supporters of the noble art can get the "office"—learn, that is to say, when and where a fight is to come off—the police surely can be equally succesiful, if they have a mind, THE " REA.DEB, " ON THE INDEX TO THE TIMES,— Few persons, we fancy, read the "R ev i ew o f t h e Y ear " . . . which, on the 31st of December or the Ist of January, is annually put forth by our industrious daily contemporaries. Composed though it be by a writer of talents and attain ments, of matured experience and original thought, it is yet impossible that so ever-recurring a composition should ex hibit very marked features, or avoid falling into a prescribed form. A gentleman of great eminence in letters and science told us that, when he first set forth on travels which have since become famous, he tried to write a poetical adieu to his native land. But Byron had been before him, and, twist and turn the verses as he might, he could not keep the "little foot-page" out of them; so he abandoned the attempt in disgust. For similar reasons it is difficult to write a review of the year without an exordium upon the progress of time ; and anybody who attempts to say any. thing new upon that subject must have discovered that all the fine reflections of which it has been the occasion may be summed up in the remark of Mr Dickens's philosopher in the Fleet Prison—" What a rum thing time is I" ad dressed to the gentleman who was paring the mud off his shoes with a four - and - twenty-bladed pocket-knife. There is no getting beyond this comprehensive view of the subject ; and, as the reader is as well aware of the fact as the writer, there is at the outset a dangerous temptation to skip, which the subsequent paragraphs about the year having been marked (or not, as the case may be) by important events on the Continent, which contrast (if they have any existence with the continued tranquillity enjoyed at home,as well as the remarks upon the struggle in America and our own supe rior way of doing things in this country. tend to foster and encourage. The article, indeed, must of necessity amount to little more than a Queen's Speech, elaborated, gifted with unquestionable grammar, and raised generally to literary pretensions, Such a performance, whatever its value as an aid to reflection with persons in reduced intellectual circum stances, can furnish but scant fare tb the active and vigor ous mind. As a reference for facts it is worth exactly nothing. Its essential aim is generalisotion ; and you ntn no more extract details from the concoction than you can ladle out the curacoa flavour from the champagne cup. It is nothing more, in fact. than a gentle reminder for which the reader has either no necessity or no use. Compare the con • ventional "review of the year," such as we have described, with the " Index to the Times for 1863," now lying before us, You cannot turn over the leaves of the latter perform- ance without being stimulated and invigorated. You have traversed a country to which you can never possibly return; but the Index will bring it back to you. There is not a spot in that land of the past from which you may not appro priate aoy object at will, and you may renew your acquaint. ante with all whenever you please. The file of the Times, to be sure, was always open—but so was a Pacific Ocean, which men do not dream of navigating without a compass and a chart. You might, it is true, find your way about the Times territory if you happened to know it. You might discover one place by remembering that it was near another of whose direction you had some idea; or you might wander about on speculation NV ith ten thousand chances against you and exposed to interruption from as many things you did not come to see, but which would, nevertheless, excite your curiosity. Here you would be caught by a leader and falsely imprisoned for ten minutes or more. A reviewer would perhaps follow with aninteresting onslaught upon your intimate friend who happened to have written a book. Then would come a pelting of small paragraphs, hitting your intelligence very hard, and inflicting severe wounds upon your credulity. You might escape with only these inflictions; but the chances are that you would get into bad company and find yourself at a police-court or the Old Bailey. In any case, your chances of tracing the re quired facts would be very small indeed. To bring this chaos into order, to reduce it to rule by which it may be explored on certain and recognised conditions, was a grand idea ; and, this present being the second year of its deve lopment, we may suppose that the design will be perma nently carried out. It is, indeed, a great field we have before us. Mr Cobden to the contrary notwithstanding, we cannot declare a single number of the Times newspaper to be worth the whole history of Tbueydiles ; but its value (we take the Times as the representative of the daily press) must be very great to have suggested the parallel to a sane statesman. And here, in the present volume, are no less than 313 numbers all reduced to order and obedience—pre pared to serve us in every possible way, like so many static tical slaves, THE " ATIIENTEUIII" ON THE PERILS OF THE llorsEs OF PARLIAMENT. Does anybody wish to see the Houses of Parliament burnt down? If 80, there is some chance that he may be gratified, If any one doubts that such is the case, lot him go by steam boat from Westminster to Lambeth, and observe how near to the south, or Great Tower end of the building stands e vast heap of dry straw, sometimes amounting to nearly hundred tons, and let him calculate also what may be the burthens of the three, four, five or six barges which, WI with the same material, lie at the foot of the heap aforeeni u ; and would add not a little to the impressiveness of a con flagration, should such a thing happen. As these craft may be moderately set down at from 25 to 20 tons burthen each' the mass of inflammable matter is easily estimated. It would be an extreme assertion if we said the distance between this mass and the windows of the Heuses exceeds 80 or 100 feet. An officer of the Houses assured us that th e heap has frequently been on fire, and we fully credited the statement on observing how heartily the lady of the capt ain of one of the barge s was en j oy i ng h er p i pe a t th e mom ent we contemplated the pecular and thoroughly British arrangement of straw and Palace in such near neighbour hood to each other. The one thing needed to bring there together in disastrous conflagration was wanting that ley i° the good woman's peaceful pipe. We forecast the probable effects upon English art, of bringing these things togeth er by that means, and perceived that more than one question of moment might be solved thereby, and disposed of for ever—e.g., the merits of stereochrome and fresco pahlti p ,g' the permanency, and even the artistic value of all the Pi (3. tures on the Palace walls, nay, even the quality of the stone of which the last are built, to say nothing of the re spective merits of the several processes for preserving th e same. By the time we had arrived, in imagination, at t he point of the consequences suggested, which related to the burning of Westminster Abbey, the lady in question had finished her pipe, and having, ere wiping the deck of t he little caboose, thought fit to assume he: crinoline, she nel" having homely duties to perform, divested herself of that garment by a simple but indescribable process, and "wen t below." It is beyond question that she poked the fire, and that 'we saw bright red sparks ascend from the domestic hearth beneath, and go overboard with much blue smoke. The wind might have taken them the other way, in whic h case, let us hope the fireman of the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster, or whoever has charge of the engine in the neighbouring church, would have been a w ee ' active of body, courageous of heart, and decisive in action ; • let us hope also, for the sake of certain millions spent et Westminster, that the tide would have been high, the fire mains filled, and the turncock at hand. Industrial Exhibition at the Agricultura l Hall. Great preparations are making at the Agricultural Hall Islington, for a North London W or ki ng Cl asses I n dustria Exhibition, to be opened at that vast establishment on Monday, the 17th instant, by Earl Russell, who has under' taken to preside on so interesting on occasion. The objects • of this exhibition, which is under the patronage of the Earl of Shaftesbury and a host of distinguished and philanthrop le gentlemen connected with the metropolis, is to bring together as large an assemblage as possible of works of an artistic, scientific, and useful c h arac t er , th e pro d uc tion , , the artisan who is the exhibitor, manufactured in the ordi nary way of business, being specimens of superior work' manship or of novelty in design; new inventions or orir nal contrivances to economise labour or time ; and usef ul ' artistic, or ornamental articles, which may have been pro" duced in spare hours, whether by working men or working women. For the most superior productions in the variey e departments prizes are to be awarded in the respective classes, and although during some of the day exhibition? the Agricultural Hall is to be opened to the general pub ll° at a charge of 6d., with a view of enabling working PreP l° , to see it, and to bring its advantages within the reach re every member of the industrious and humbler classes of society, the admission fee is to be reduced each evening from seven till te n o ' c l oc k t o 2d. A ser i es o f public meetings have been held in various parts of the metro: polls in support of the project, and at the last, held on Fry day evening at the Parochial School-room, Amwelb-stre ar t Clerkenwell, Mr W. Watts, of the general superintenden t's department, of the Louden and North Western RailWah the hon. secretary, gave some interesting details of the pro" gross and prospects of the forthcoming exhibition. stated that the society had disposed of 1,500 space papers upon application for space, and upwards of 200 had been already returned, duly filled up, stating the amount of spac e required and the character of the work to be exhibited, ari d no doubt the whole of the remainder would be received bi the day:and the hour specified in the ensuing week, so as to be included in the catalogue. The Agricultural Hall was almost ready for the reception of articles, and on Monday morning (to-morrow) the committe e wou ld comme nce with the reception of pictures, which would require artistic ar" rangement, and the whole of the preparations would hav e to be completed by 8 o'clock on the morning of the opening day, Monday, the 17th. The guarantee fund, from noble' men, gentlemen, and others supporting the movement, tie amounted to over £3oo, and Mr Samuel Morley had alo e given his guarantee personally for £lOO. The programm e of the inaugural cereueony,which will be very imposing9lll - the services of Miss Louisa Pyne, Miss Leffier, E. Gayler, Mr Lewis Thomas, and other of our first-rate professional artistes, and a choir of upwards of 1,000 voices, the musical arrangements being conducted by D r . James Wesley, of Winchester Cathedral, who will preside' at Willis's grand organ. Earl Russell, K.G., w ill be conducted to the platform, as chairman, at 3 p.m., by th e committee and officers, and on being seated the choir will sing the hundredth psalm, " All people that ou earth; &c. At the conclusion Mr W. J. Watts, hon. seer will read the report, and the chairman and comporty inspect the exhibition. On returning to the plat form Ea r l Russell will deliver an address, and declare the exhibition open. A special ode, composed by Mr W. H. Bellan 3 7 l and set to music by Dr Wesley, will then be sung by gl ee . , Louisa Pyne and others; and prayer having been ofteren up by the Rev Robert Maguire, M.A., incumbent of Clerk" enwell, the inaugural cerem on y w ill conc l u d e b y the alle lr and assembly singing the N a ti ona l A n th em. Th e o bject . I° an excellent one, and the supp or t it i s rece i v i ng f rom the in' • dustrious classes themselves, as w e ll as th e genera l public , is calculated to insuro for this novel and useful exhibition the most perfect success.—Obsetvor. COUNTRY MARKETS. --------~M"•.._ - .~. YORK—SATURDAY. A moderate supply of wheat on offer from the farmers fill morning, and a good t ra d e was d one , th e pr i ces of l ast week being is per qr advance on fi ne descriptions. .theret was a fair show of barley, but the demand was limited 0 ebout late rates. O a t s w er e a mo d era t e s h ow, an d inacfi l —secondary sorts rather c h ea p er . B eans i n fair supplh 14 barely late prices. Wheat, red 37s to 40s 1 Oats.... White do .40s to 44s Beans Barley .27s to 32s Peas Malt, 58s to 60s per qr. ; rye, 30 s per qr ,: . — fl 4lo o Ssa ur s ttt o °°°:ll:l to 32s per sack. LE ICE ST ER—SATURDAY. To-day there was an abundantshow of wat, princiP, sl ,l of the new crop, Business firm, and in favour of sel' e ' Barley plentiful, with a steady sale. Oats about late rat 36 —Old white wheat, 42s to 44s ; red, 40s to 42s per 'W stone. New white, 448 to 48s'per 36 stone. Malting barlei; new, 33s to 363 per qr.; grindi ng , 25 s t o 27 5; o ld oat s ; 30s to 325; new oats, 24s to 27 s p er 24 s t one . 13°411 I old, 41s to 43s per 38 stone ; flour, 31s to 395 . per 20 atone' GRANTHAM—SATuRDAY. At our market to-day wheat came fairly to hand, an d the trade was active; p r i ces were i s per qr. more tu° 1181 : —Old white wheat, 42s to 458 ; red, 39s to 41s per 36st. new white, 40s to 44 8 ; r e d, 40 s to 435. 'Visiting berlefj 31s to 35s per qr ; grinding, 27s to 30s ; oats, old, 23 3 26s ; new, 19s to24s; beans, 318 to 40s ; peas, 34s to 37E' NOTTINGHAM —SATURDAY. r We had a moderat e supp l y t o -d ay, most of the sawrj e 0 .a being of the n ew cro p. T he demand was very fair, as, hat week's prices were fully maintained. Barley caul ° , r to ther freely to hand, a n d so ld at f ull prices. Oats 00". New beans the turn cheaper. —White wheat, from 42 s t o 51 s ; re d w h ea t , 40 s to 44 t , 5 : Barley—malting, 32s to 35s ; grinding, 28s to 295. s 9 ' l , old, at 26s to 30s Od ; n ew , 23 s to 265. Beans sold at `i to 44s per qr. ; new, —s to —s. Flour, fine, 28s to 30s; super, 34s to 37s per 20 stoUe• NORWICH—SATURDAY. There was only a limited supply of w h ea t t o -d ay , an 3 trade was rather improved at is advance upon last weeg prices. In barley there was a fair supply, and previ"' prices maintained. White wheat. 44s to 45s I Red wheat Dialling barley ...35 s t o 36 s I Chevalier barley 36 e to 39 33 8 to 349 Distilling d 0..... 29 s t o 30 s I Oats.. * 24. to 2 6 Flour, 28s Od to —s Od per sack from the miller Births. ANDERSON,—On the 7th inst., the wife of De Lance , Anderson, Esq., 2d Queen's Royals, of a daughter. of ALLEN.—On the 3d inst., at Stoke Newington, the Wi fe Joseph Allen, Esq., of a daughter. FORD.—On th e 7 t h inst,, at Cheltenham, the wife of Cap tain St. Clair Ford, of a son. y o of LYs.—On the 7th i ns t., a t B ore R eg i s, Dorset, the w- - F. D. Lys, Esq., of a son. Marriages. ARTHUR—RICE.—On the 6th inst., at Mount Trene lla . r .. d ! John Raynor Arthur, Esq., of the Bombay Civil Servtil''r; third surviving son of the ate General Sir Geo. A rt „ il h ess K C. 8., to Aileen, third d a u g h ter of the Hon. Stet-- Spring Rice. PORTMAN—MORDAUNT,—On the sth inst , at v , -1 4 D'Evite, the Hon. and Rev. Walter Berkeley Port rector of Corton Denham, Somerset, to Alice, Yoll" - e daughter of the late Sir John Mordaunt, Bart. Deaths. - • BLACKWOOD.—On the sth inst., at the Vicarage, -I 0 dleton 'ryas, York s hi re , Pinksan Blackwood, 11861. ' -6t of Brussels. BA.ILY.—On th e 7 t h i nst., Katherine, youngest dati-gil et° Blackheath, i k ti h c e h a a t r h, d aged A six yearsdreßaily,.Esq., of bartmouth.tertic COLLING.--On the 7th inst, at at Harwich, J o hn COOP .Esq., of Pa r k Vill as, Holloway,. aged 70. FLINT.—On the 6th inst., at Margate, Thomas Flint Esq., aged 77. GOORD.—On the 6th inst., Mr. Thum Goord, of Di rell Grove, West Hoathly, aged 67. London : Printed and Pi Wished by WILLIAM ANDD 14. - of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TuE SUN °LUC Strand, in the Precinct of the: Savoy,.in the W in " 1 11 .1ddleux.—Dinday, October 10,1801.